The Captain Of Her Heart
by Lothiriel84
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Douglas actually considered Martin as his best friend. - A sequel to Learning To Fly. Written for the amnesty challenge on fan flashworks. The title is a reference to the namesake song by Double.


Contrary to popular belief, Douglas actually considered Martin as his best friend. Teasing him might be a significant side benefit, but he still cared about the lad more than he was willing to admit.

He'd been genuinely happy when his young captain had found himself a girlfriend at last – though it was probably the other way round, for Martin would have ended up doing nothing at all if left to his own devices. Theresa of Liechtenstein was the best thing that could have happened to him, and Douglas was fairly sure that she would manage to stick to her new boyfriend in spite of his hopeless awkwardness and astonishing lack of self-esteem.

Still he was quite aware of Martin's growing restlessness; it seemed that he was simply waiting for the other shoe to drop, as if he couldn't quite believe he was actually entitled to be happy just like any other human being.

That was why the first officer decided it was time he stepped in, did something clever in order to nudge his helpless friend in the right direction. Theresa being a princess might be a considerable issue, as well as Martin's lack of money and a proper job; but he was confident that neither of those would be an insurmountable obstacle, if handled correctly.

Carolyn was gracious enough not to tease him when he offered to give up a share of his salary, so that she could afford paying Martin as well. His next move was suggesting Arthur that Skip would need a best man if he ever decided to get married; Arthur promptly claimed it was brilliant that Skip wanted to marry Theresa, causing the captain to blush crimson and planting the idea in his head at the same time.

"I'm not planning to get married," their friend hastily pointed out, before fleeing to the relative safety of the flight deck.

"So, Martin," he dropped casually once the take-off procedures were completed. "Are you seriously telling me you've been deceiving the poor girl all along?"

"Douglas!"

"I'll let you in on a secret, my lad. Every woman secretly wants to get married, no matter how hard they try to deny it."

"But I can't marry Theresa."

"Why ever not?"

"Because she's a princess, that's why."

"And yet she chose you. You're the captain of her heart, Martin."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"I am not. Just for the sake of argument, if she wasn't a princess would you ask her?"

"I – I don't know."

"Just what I was thinking," he sighed, pulling his best _I-told-you-so_ face – the one that never failed to irritate his colleague.

"What?"

"You simply can't pluck up the courage to propose to a woman. Admit it."

"Douglas, are you seriously implying that I'm a coward?"

"Nothing of the kind, sir. Where do you get the idea?"

"I could, if I wanted to."

"Of course."

"I tell you I could. I just happen not to want to."

"And I believe you."

"No, you don't. I know you don't."

"Dare I ask you how much would you be willing to bet, captain?"

"Oh, come on."

"I'm serious. I bet a month's salary that you won't be able to propose to your lovely girlfriend in – let's say – a week."

"This is the most preposterous suggestion I've ever heard."

"Afraid to lose our precious little salary, are we?"

"Tomorrow is my day off," Martin suddenly made up his mind. "I bet I can do it tomorrow."

"Sir is very eager to waste his money, isn't he?"

"Kindly shut up, would you?"

Douglas let a satisfied grin spread over his features before eventually letting the subject drop. About twenty-four hours later he received a frantic call from his friend.

"I have – done it," Martin announced in his most incredulous tone, and the first officer allowed himself a self-approving smile.

"Did you really? And what did she say?"

"She said yes," the younger man muttered in disbelief, making Douglas' smile widen even further.

"So she did. I see."

"What am I going to do now? I mean, can a guy like me actually marry a princess?"

"Well, as Arthur would put it, it's not against the law."

Nor were bets, luckily for Captain Crieff; this way he wouldn't have to embarrass himself by not being able to buy her an engagement ring.

As for Douglas, he would still get to be Martin's best man. No sensible person would ask Arthur anyway.


End file.
